Thursday, February 11, 2016

Historical Novel Society Reviews FALCONS

Another wonderful review, this one from the Historical Novel Society:

When Falcons Fall: A Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery

St. Cyr, better known to his readers as Devlin, arrives with his family in a small Shropshire village in 1813, ostensibly on a quest to discover the truth about his own identity and to pay homage to a slain friend. What he finds on his journey is more than he bargained for.

Of course, Devlin quickly becomes involved in a murder investigation. Despite the town’s efforts to classify the death of a young widow, found dead on the banks of the river, as a suicide, the pieces don’t fit. Why is Emma Chance in Ayleswick? Who is she sketching and why? As Devlin digs deeper, he learns she is not the first young woman to have died under mysterious circumstances.

The inhabitants of Ayleswick are not what they seem, either. The town takes on a personality of its own – a history of deadly fire, black market doings, and just plain bad folks with nasty secrets. To add to this messy stew is newly ensconced Lucien Bonaparte, estranged brother of Napoleon, who appears to have more up his sleeve than first appears.

What a delight! Not just a fun romp, this is well-written and plotted, and, again, as Devlin attempts to sort out truth from artifice, a showpiece for Harris to create wonderfully fleshed out and complex characters. One of the best Devlin entries, and highly recommended!

12 comments:

WooHoo - that is great! I think I remember you telling us that Steve really liked it as well and thought it one of the best. Looks like he knows his stuff. I can't wait to get my copy!! And here's to more great reviews! Best, Ali

Can't wait for this one - the only thing is I cannot find an ebook listing for it anywhere, Kobo or Amazon UK or any other online bookstore. Is it going to be available in that format? I Googled it and did find a listing on Kobo - but when I went to the page they said it wasn't available in the UK. Totally frustrating - as I am sure it is for you.

Willa, they were supposed to have fixed it so that the ebook would come out in the UK and Australia at the same time rather than lag by three months, but obviously that isn't so. I'm looking into it. It's too bad this series never found a UK publisher; that's the problem.

Can you explain the naming conventions of the nobility? Sebastian St. Cyr is called Lord Devlin, or Vicount Devlin, so where does "Devlin" come from? Is that an estate that he owns? when he becomes Earl, will everyone who calls him Devlin start calling him Hendon?

About Me

A former university professor with an incurable case of wanderlust, I write the Sebastian St. Cyr Regency mystery series under the name of C.S. Harris and thrillers as one half of C.S. Graham. I’ve also written historical romances as Candice Proctor.